Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Could a Democrat Score an Upset in Arizona?

Democrat challenger Hiral Tipirneni, MD

If nothing else, Donald Trump's election has ignited a fire in many women, especially college educated women, who are horrified by both Trump's election and the reverse Robin Hood and misogynistic agenda of today's Republican Party. Women have been throwing their hats into the political ring in record numbers and now a Democrat is within potential striking range of scoring an upset in a reliably Republican district in Arizona. Combined with the ongoing teacher strike in Arizona - Arizona has among the lowest teacher pay in America - Democrat Hiral Tipirneni strong campaign suggests that Arizona may be on its way to joining Virginia in as a purple or even blue state in the near future. A column in the New York Times looks at the changing scene in Arizona. Here are column excerpts:

On
Tuesday, there’s a special election in Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District,
which Donald Trump won by 21 percentage points. It’s to replace Trent Franks,
the abortion opponent who resigned amid reports that he tried to create his own
personal version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” by pressuring female employees to
serve as gestational surrogates.

In
the past two elections, Democrats didn’t contest the district, which
encompasses suburbs northwest of Phoenix. This time, a Democrat named Hiral
Tipirneni, a former emergency room physician and first-time political
candidate, is running against a Republican state senator, Debbie Lesko. Though
Lesko is expected to win, some polls show the race in a
dead heat, and Republicans have spent more than $1 million on the campaign.

On
Thursday, public school teachers in Arizona, among the lowest paid in the
country, are planning to walk out, following the lead of teachers in West
Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky. For 15 years, “we’ve continued to get cut and
cut and cut,” Theresa Ratti, who teaches high school in Mesa, told me. “My A.P.
government textbook that I teach from, the new president is George W. Bush.”

These
two events — an unexpectedly competitive Eighth District election and a rare
labor action by teachers — are connected. Partly this is because Lesko is a
villain to many local champions of public education. . . . . Lesko has been an
advocate of vouchers and privatization and pretty much anything she can do to
destroy the public school system.”

But
there’s a deeper link. Both the walkout and the surprising viability of
Tipirneni’s campaign are manifestations of the explosive activist energy,
particularly among women, set off by the catastrophe of Trump’s election. Since
Hillary Clinton’s defeat, “college-educated women have ramped up their
political participation en masse,” . . . . women who were once politically
disengaged felt demeaned by Trump’s victory. Overcome by a need to do something
in response, they’d turned to local politics, which had gradually come to
consume their lives.

Save
Our Schools, a prominent grass-roots organization supporting the walkout, is an
outgrowth of an Arizona group called Stronger Together, which itself is a
spinoff of the pro-Hillary Clinton Facebook group Pantsuit Nation. . . . . before the election, Republicans had more
than 3,000 precinct committeemen in the county, and Democrats only 600. Since
2016, he said, the Democrats’ total has grown to 1,700.

Even
with this new infrastructure, local activists realize that winning on Tuesday
is a long shot. Unlike the pro-Trump district that the Democrat Conor Lamb won
in Pennsylvania, Arizona’s Eighth has no Democratic roots. It’s both very white
and, because of a high concentration of retirees, very old.

But
whatever happens this week, politics in Arizona, which Trump won by a mere 3.5
percentage points and which is key to the Democratic dream of retaking the
Senate, is changing fast. Though our national politics remains a horror show,
here, among so many indefatigable women, it’s easy to be hopeful.

Even
if she [Tipirneni] comes up short, the work she’s done to build up the
Democratic Party in her district will have a lasting impact, she said: “It’s
going to be incredible to see what Arizona looks like after November.”

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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